Friday, May 8, 2015

Hsieh Forbes Column: FDA Vs. Free Speech

Even as Americans heatedly argue the issue of free speech with
respect to cartoon criticisms of Islam, the small drug company Amarin is
striking a quieter blow for its free speech rights against the Food and
Drug Adminstration (FDA).

The key issue is whether drug companies can tell doctors truthful
information about their products that pertains to “off-label” uses
(i.e., for applications not already explicitly approved by the FDA.)

Of course, drug companies should not be allowed to disseminate false or misleading information about their products. That can and should be punished as fraud.

But both doctors and patients benefit when drug companies are allowed to publish truthful information.

About FIRM

America was founded on the principles of freedom and individual rights. Applied to medicine, the law must respect the individual rights of doctors and other providers, allowing them the freedom to practice medicine. This includes the right to choose their patients, to determine the best treatment for their patients, and to bill their patients accordingly. In the same manner, the law must respect the individual rights of patients, allowing them the freedom to seek out the best doctors and treatment they can afford.

Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine (FIRM) promotes the philosophy of individual rights, personal responsibility, and free market economics in health care. FIRM holds that the only moral and practical way to obtain medical care is that of individuals choosing and paying for their own medical care in a capitalist free market. Federal and state regulations and entitlements, we maintain, are the two most important factors in driving up medical costs. They have created the crisis we face today.

Freedom and Individual Rights in Medicine was founded by Lin Zinser and Paul Hsieh, MD in 2007. It is now managed by Paul Hsieh, MD.